Chapter 12: One Has to Dream_Millennial Mage

Chapter 12: One Has to Dream

 T turned to see that two Mages had just entered the lounge. Both were Materialists, one Creator and one Guide, and both seemed to specialize in ice and lightning. Interestingbination.

 The two turned at Crans voice and smiled when they saw him. The youngers smile morphed into a wide grin, as he called back. Oi, yourself! They walked over, and Cran stood to greet them.

 T followed his lead, and he introduced her. Renix, Master Trent, this is Mistress T. He turned to her. Mistress T: Renix and Master Trent.

 She nodded her head in a slight bow and took their hands as they offered them, each in turn. Renix, it seemed, was the Creator and Trent the Guide. They were both taller than she was, with Renix being the taller by half a head at least. They had brown hair cut close to their heads, though Trents was slightly longer, darker, and curly. They both had the lean, careful physique of Mages, and faces with well used smile lines.

 Despite their simrities, Trent was clearly older, likely ten years her senior, while Renix seemed barely older than she was. Might just be the attitude?

 Pleasure to meet you, Mistress T.

 d to meet you. Renix nced down. Nice gloves.

 Cran grinned and motioned for everyone to sit. Shes starting a new trend.

 As they all sat, T felt her cheeks redden. I am not. But when she nced around the table, she saw they were all smiling amiably.

 Cran waved to the group, bringing their focus back to him. You three seem to be destined to meet.

 Trent rolled his eyes. You are not destiny, Master Cran, no matter what your mother told you, in or out of the womb.

 Cran snorted augh. I mean, you will be traveling together.

 Oh? Trent nced towards T. Youre going to Alefast?

 T felt a small knot of tension evaporate. Not Marliweather. Seems so. She nced at Cran and saw a twinkle in his eye, but he didntment.

 Renix looked eager. Do you work alone? Are you the other defender of the caravan, or will you be our baggage handler? Where is your master, or do you have your own mageling?

 Trent held up his hand. Easy there, Renix. Let her speak. He then turned back to T, his smile still obvious. I am curious, though.

 They havent seen me, then. They dont know what quadrant Im of.

 Careful, boys, she makes you pay for answers with food.

 Trents smile widened. Well, why didnt you say so. He nced at the now empty space before her. Lets get you something to eat and my mageling some answers, yes?

 T held up a hand. No need for that, Master Trent. I am an Immaterial Guide, and I suppose baggage handler is as good a term as any.

 Dimensional magic. The older man shook his head. Never could understand it, but I guess I wasnt meant to. He smiled again. Im a Material Guide.

 And Im a Material Creator.

 Trent gave Renix an amused nce but continued. Well be working, as a set, to help safeguard the caravan. I believe we have another Mage to coborate with for that duty, but I dont know if they have a mageling.

 Renix shivered. Is it just me, or is it colder in here than usual?

 Cran nced to T with a knowing smile and made a you should say something gesture.

 T sighed. Like with Cran, they would soon realize it was her. Its actually me.

 Trent turned his full focus on her, and his smile was gone. Are you leaking that much magic? What idiot inscribed you? You shouldnt go to back-alley inscribers, or youll die of magic poisoning before thirty.

 She held up her hands. No, no. Nothing like that.

 Cran sighed. Mistress T, just let him look.

 Trent nced to Cran, then back to her. Would that exin it, then? Do you approve?

 After a moments hesitation, she nodded. Then, looked to Renix. You can, too.

 She saw power ripple across both of their faces, and their eyes began to glow faintly. Their mage-sight inscriptions were identical in function, being much moreplex than Crans, but they each had to beid out slightly differently, due to the unique contours and size of the two mens faces.

 Their reactions could not have been more opposite, without one resorting to violence or fleeing the room.

 Renix leaned forward, a look of awe blossoming across his features. Amazing! How are you doing that?

 Trent pushing himself backward, seeming to barely restrain himself from jumping to his feet. How are you doing that?! What? He looked around, seeming to see the many eyes now turned their way. Carefully, he pulled himself forward again, and he lowered his voice. What are you, Mistress T? Ive never seen anything like that save His eyes widened. Did you find a set of invisible armor?

 Cran snapped his fingers. Thats it! Its like shes wearing an iron suit.

 T found herself nervouslyughing. No, I dont have invisiblewait. Such things exist?

 Trent waved a hand dismissively. In theory. Ive seen stranger things. Now, what are you doing? Do you have an active shield against magic, constantly empowered? That seems needlessly wasteful, though the inscribing must be wless to achieve such results. Ive never seen anything exactly like that He seemed to hesitate. Well, no, thats not true. It looks a bit like Master Grediv, but there are quite a few differences He frowned, seeming to contemte.

 It isnt an inscribing. She hesitated, unsure of how much she wanted to share with three men who were still basically strangers. And any in the lounge with enhanced hearing. She couldnt be the only person with such abilities. For ease''s sake, lets assume I have a very high iron content in my skin.

 Trent didnt look satisfied, but he didnt press on that issue. And your eyes?

 I need to keep some mysteries.

 The older Guide seemed even less happy at that answer, but he let the matter drop. Very well, then. We dide to eat an early dinner. He nced at Renix and noted the younger mans clear ardor. He sighed. May we join you, here? Were going to be spending quite some time together in the near future, after all.

 Cran looked to her, but T was already nodding. It would be my pleasure.

 T spent the rest of the afternoon with Cran, Renix, and Trent. Lyn joined them in the early evening, and they chatted until well after dark, about trivial things.

 In the end, T was the first to leave, as she had an early morning at the work-yard the following day, and Lyn opted to go with her. They were, after all, staying in the same house.

 T, again, slept in her bedroll, though she did seriously consider the bed. It is mine, now, after all. Assuming she took Lyn up on her offer.

 * * *

 T woke early, her own mind rousing her well before dawn.

 She stretched, exercised, bathed, and added to her iron salve, finishing just as the sky began to lighten.

 Lyn was gone before T came out into the main area, and a note simply stated that Lyn had a lot of work to catch up on.

 A small pouch of coins held the note down and was described there-in as: food money for my new housemate. Pay me back when you can.

 T sighed. The pouch contained a mix of mostly copper coins with a little bit of silver. The total value of the pouch was two silver ounces. And my debt grows

 Still, she took the pouch gratefully. There was no interest implied, and she did need to be able to eat during herst day in the city. Thankfully, her food would be taken care of on the trip, itself, and she would receive her pay on the far end, with which to cover her costs for the two days in Alefast before her return.

 With nothing further to do in the home, T gathered what she thought shed need for the day into her satchel and departed.

 Shed also found an iron key in the money pouch, as the note had indicated she would, and she used that to lock Lyns front door on her way out. Mine too, unless I find a better rate

 She did find the iron amusing, however. From what she knew, and what shed gleaned, most Mages avoid iron as much as possible, which was why Lyns own key had been brass. She must have had it specially cast for mefor some reason. It seemed an odd gesture, but T found that she appreciated it, nheless.

 She had a warmth in her heart and a spring in her step as she moved towards the work-yard.

 To her surprise, without someone walking beside her, setting the pace, she moved much faster than she thought usual. Her motions felt natural, as if it were still her regr pace, but the world moved by at a brisk pace. She caught and passed other early risers with surprising ease, and each step seemed to carry her farther than expected.

 It appeared that her quicker reactions were causing her to push the boundaries of walking at a regr pace. I likely look pretty odd. Come on, woman, just run, if youre in that much of a hurry! She grinned to herself. Then, with a mild effort of will, she slowed her pace until the passing of the surrounding city, if not the movement of her limbs, felt right.

 Thisissoslow She sighed, internally. I should buy a book or two. Hesitantly, she pulled out a notebook and pencil, and began writing her musings. Surprisingly, she found it trivially easy to both write out her thoughts and keep track of her own movements. As an added bonus, it made the slower pace seem less grinding.

 Thus, she amused herself by doing quick sketches of things she passed; writing out her thought processes and working through some of her more esoteric ideas; and adding to the letter for Holly that shed begun earlier.

 She stopped through a caf to pick up a breakfast of eggs and coffee for half an ounce, silver. Only after shed departed, with a full stomach, did she realize that shed never stopped her work in her notebook.

 I read the menu, ordered, paid, and ate, all while continuing to sketch, write, and contemte. Shed never been terrible at multitasking, but this seemed more extreme than that. Ill have to ask Holly.

 She arrived at the work-yard as she finished adding a brief exnation and inquiry about just that to her missive to the inscriber.

 The cargo-slots were exactly as they had been, and workmen were working on each, seemingly taking great care to arrange everything within. This seems like a process that would have been standardized and made as efficient as possible

 Even as she had that thought, however, she realized that, given there werent daily deliveries to each other city, the exact cargo going would likely be expanding until they departed, maybe even hourly. Thus, they might have to do some rearranging if new items came in.

 Why not stage it in a warehouse, and move it over the day before? Or the morning of departure? They could even take exact measurements

 She didnt know, but it didnt really seem that relevant. This is the job; I dont suppose I need to know exactly why they need it of me.

 As she approached, she noted that only one symbol on each script was still active, demonstrating their need for recharging. Why not just add more capacity, and have Mages charge them on each end? Yet another question she couldnt answer herself. Still, she added both the questions, and her musings to the notebook shed designated for ongoing questions for future inquiry. Probably due to higher concentrations of magic dissipating more quickly

 She charged all ten scripts quickly. As before, she worked to envision exactly what her power was going to do and channeled the magic through that mental construct before it exited her hand to enter the inscribing in the wood. Also as before, each such empowering seemed to get easier, as her mind settled into the truth of her mental model and even adjusted it, ever so slightly, to match small variations from her expectations.

 In the end, it took her about five minutes to charge all ten. It had taken longer than the day before, but shed also felt as if the open doors, and the actively entering and exiting workers, had slowed her down.

 In retrospect, it had likely been unwise to allow them to continue working while she was actively dumping power into dimensional distortion magic. She might haveNope, not going to think about that.

 Whats done was done. In the future, Ill ask them to hold off on the one Im actively charging. This was likely another thing a master would have taught her, if shed done a stint as a mageling. Or maybe not? The workers seem to know what theyre about, and they didnt hesitate to continue to work A master might also have alleviated her concerns. Id have known, one way or another.

 She left the work-yard without fanfare, though she did smile and wave to the various workmen who acknowledged her.

 In fact, more such smiled her direction, as she got farther from the cargo-slots, and she had a realization. With the iron salve, at any distance, it would be hard to tell that I was a Mage at all. She cocked a humored smile at that. I wonder why they think Im here.

 She did not write that question in her re-opened notebook, though she did sketch out what she could remember of the inscribings on the cargo-slots. To her decreasing surprise, she was able to create a full sketch. Ill have to check it against the real thing, tomorrow.

 To urately render the depth, shed used various pressures with her pencil to create darker and lighter lines, also breaking up some of the lines to help emphasize their depth within the wood.

 As the lines were magical in nature, her mage-sight had allowed her to see them, easily, even through the wood.

 She had two realizations as she studied her finished work. First, shed never had the fine motor control to sketch so precisely, before. Even earlier this morning, her lines had been more hesitant, and less practiced, but in a no-longer-surprisingly-short amount of time, her movements had adjusted to her minds intent. My body and mind are better connected, making the refining of skills much faster. Or that was her best guess.

 The second thing she realized was that the Wainwrights Guild would likely be less than pleased that she was able to copy out everyyer of their spell-forms. Ill just keep that to myself, I suppose. That might make verifying the uracy of her copy more difficult, but shed manage. Somehow.

 T spent much of the rest of her morningbing the city for rooms to rent, either temporary or long term.

 In short: Lyn was offering her a very good deal, if not so inexpensive as to be obviously charity. Even though it is

 Money. Ts woes were almost entirely money rted. Theyll be a little better, after I return, but with my ideas for Holly, on top of all the debt I need to pay off She was likely to have money problems for quite some time.

 Instead of going by a restaurant for her lunch, as she desperately wanted to, she found the local food market, and used thest of her borrowed funds to buy dried fruit and meat, a quarter pound of butter to fill a small wooden box shed already purchased for the purpose, and biscuits. Thetter she found in a little bakery which seemed to specialize in portable food for workers.

 As such, the biscuits were dense, delicious, and filling. She still had to eat lunch, after all, and the butter shed bought didnt quite fit into the container. So, she ate one of the biscuits with butter and found herself satisfied.

 The purchase of traveling food had been somewhat of an internal debate with her, as she was supposed to have her food provided for her on the trip.

 That said, she had no way of knowing the quality or quantity of what would be offered. Another thing a master could have easily told me. And she was not willing to be at the mercy of whatever cook or quartermaster happened to be on the journey with her.

 There was also always the possibility of some sort of disaster. Thus, shed eventually decided that buying a few days of such food was wise.

 Herck of funds had changed her mind, until Lyns generosity. Spend the money you have, T, and youll always be poor.

 That wasnt entirely fair, as she could also eat this food in Alefast if she didnt need it on the journey, thus reducing her expenses overall, but she still felt fairly irritated.

 Today was herst day in Bandfast, as the caravan would depart just after dawn the next morning. With that in mind, she wandered the city, taking in the sights and sketching many of them.

 The shorter days and softer autumn light cast an almost dreamy aesthetic to the city, and she found herself enjoying each feature she passed, from the imposing, spell-lined city walls, to the small homes. She passedrge block buildings that appeared to be apartmentplexes and some that seemed to be factories, by the soundsing from within. She passed people of every description and age going about their business throughout the city.

 Honestly? It was exhausting.

 The Academy hadnt been vacant, by any means, but it spanned tens of thousands of acres, and had a poption that maxed out in the ten-thousands. Thus, there was never want for room.

 This city, and every city, was teeming with people, and with her newly heightened senses, it wasa lot.

 In the end, she sought refuge atop an outer wall.

 The farnd stretched out beyond that wall, defensive towers ring with power every so often to deter, or bring down, arcanous creatures that drew too close. Some people came and went through a nearby gate, and soldiers patrolled the walls at regr intervals, but overall? It was quiet.

 What would it be like to leave the cities behind, forever?

 Sheughed at the thought. Even as a Mage, she couldnt survive in the wilds for very long. Her magics were finite and once they expired so would she.

 Still If she were free of debt, and able to earn enough, she could spend most of her time away.

 One has to dream, right?

 She ate some of her trail food and drank from a waterskin as the sun sank below the horizon to the south-east. And thus, myst day here is done. Shed be back, but it still had a sad, sweet quality to it.

 Ive only been here a week or so, and only conscious for half that. Still, she felt like she was bing attached.

 Tughed at herself, then. I want to go into the Wilds, forever! I cannot believe Im leaving this city I somehow love so much She snorted. Get it together, T. Youve work to do.

MillionNovel

Chapter 12: One Has to Dream